Debra DeAngelo

America deserves better than a childish, misogynistic pig

I had an amazing column on deck for this week (more horses!), but you’ll have to wait, because as I sit down to write on this lovely Friday morning, I can’t get the latest outrage-du-jour out of my mind.

On the June 29 Morning Joe program, Joe Scarborough’s co-anchor Mika Brzezinski had the audacity to ridicule Donald Trump for creating fake Time magazine covers of himself, touting his wonderfulness. Brzezinski, although poking fun, was spot-on. Trump is the PRESIDENT, and his ego is still so fragile and insatiable, he creates fake magazine covers of himself. It’s sad, it’s pathetic, and, moreover, it’s sick. “Mentally ill” sick.

This well-deserved ridicule didn’t sit well with the Toddler in Chief, who immediately flung himself to the floor in a fit of rage, pooped his extra-large diapers, grabbed his cell phone and got his fat, tiny thumbs a-tapping.

He went for blood. Again. Literally. Remember when he belittled former Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly, saying she had “blood coming from her eyes, and her… wherever.” (My God, that was last summer, and it feels like a decade. We’re enduring this nightmare presidency in dog years.) Anyone with an IQ higher than celery will recognize that Trump was implying that Kelly was just another cranky woman on her period — an outrageously sexist put-down. Time and again, Trump has shown disdain for smart, tough women who aren’t remotely impressed with him or interested in him sexually.

People. “Misogyny” isn’t always overt. It’s not just about men who beat their wives every weekend because their dinner got cold. Misogyny is an enduring, pernicious contempt for women that expresses itself in sexist speech, behavior and decision-making — which summarizes how Trump has lived his life. To him, women are just sex toys and decorations — nothing more. He ranks women on a “How Fuckable Are They” scale from “total dog” to “spread your legs.”

How does it feel, daddies, to know that our President looks at your daughters that way?

Last week, he attacked Brzezinski — who has been a role model for encouraging women to own their value in the workplace and beyond, and who is anything but “low I.Q.” and “crazy,” as Trump tweeted. But the kicker was when he went for the blood again, claiming Brzezinski was “bleeding badly from a face-lift” while attempting to crash his New Year’s Eve party, to which he denied entry to both her and Scarborough.

Thankfully, this latest tweet-storm seems to have been the tipping point. Congressional Republicans hung their thumbs in their pockets, whistled and looked the other way when Trump insulted Kelly, Carly Fiorina and Hillary Clinton, fat-shamed a former beauty queen and called her “Miss Housekeeping” because she’s Hispanic, and declared that he is entitled to grab any woman between the legs because he’s just that privileged, rich and entitled.

Possibly worst of all, there wasn’t a Republican peep when Trump disgraced German Chancellor Angela Merkel, right in front of the cameras. They were asked to shake hands and Merkel leaned in, but Trump ignored her and looked the other way. Is it because she ranks closer to “total dog” than “spread your legs”? Although that international slight didn’t make Republicans cringe, the Brzezinski tweets seem to have done it. Republicans are finally objecting, albeit very politely. The consensus reaction is “disappointment.”

Disappointment?

Really?

Not “outraged” or “disgusted” or “appalled”?

Just disappointed?

Like how you feel when they’re out of blueberry muffins at the bakery and you have to get poppyseed instead?

REALLY?

Republicans would have exploded in self-righteous fury had Barack Obama uttered just one of the things Trump has said about women. They’d have gone completely ballistic. The hypocrisy is stunning.

Oh, what a difference skin color makes.

Cover of the June 30, 2017 New York Daily News.

Dear Congressional Republicans: Forget disappointment. You should be horrified. As should we all. Trump disgraces our country over and over, and on the occasion of celebrating Independence Day, the June 30 cover of the New York Daily News captured our collective disgrace: a bald eagle hanging its head. Underneath, it says, simply, “Humiliation.”

So succinct. Because, you see, the fallout from Trump’s blatant misogyny isn’t really about sparring matches with TV anchorwomen or celebrities or political opponents. His disgusting words and behavior not only humiliate women — they humiliate our entire country. Our president is our poster child to the world, and our poster child is a disgusting chauvinistic pig.

Frankly, I pity Melania Trump most of all. I wonder what sort of iron-clad prenuptial contract Trump penned to keep her from running away screaming like her hair’s on fire — as any woman with a shred of self-respect would. When I look at Melania, I see a very pampered, very abused woman. And their young son, Barron. Poor little fellow. He appears to be in a stupor most of the time — his eyes and face are completely expressionless, like a hostage who’s given up hope. I feel truly sorry for them both, because they are experiencing on a personal, intimate level what we, as a nation, are also experiencing: the strain of being under the thumb of a cruel and childish tyrant.

Trump insults women. Takes advantage of them. Ranks them by physical appearance. Grabs them whether they want it or not. When threatened, he responds by singling women out and attacking them. Joe Scarborough noted that he’s challenged and criticized Trump over and over and over, but Trump didn’t have the spine to take on Scarborough, who would verbally destroy him. But when a woman ridiculed him, he was compelled to attack her.

You know what? Trump’s not simply a misogynistic pig. He’s a coward. A bully. And every day he remains in the White House, he defiles our country. We deserve better. Far, far better.

Maya Spier Stiles North

Defiles us all is absolute truth. I am beside myself, and have been since the election that NObody stopped this. They had a damned good idea who he was and THEY DID NOTHING. I realize the previous administration did not want to be seen as interfering in the electoral process and that might have been appropriate if a normal conservative ran and won, but this bastard is a MONSTER and they let it happen.

Which means I am effectively in a rage with everyone who had a fecking thing to do with his election and that is fecking exhausting.

Pat Rose Thompson

Thank you, Pat. We are ALL horrified… except for those who proudly sport “Make America Great Again” baseball caps. How ANYONE could support this president, right now, with all he’s done and said, is beyond me.

Pam Koenig

Just when you think you’re at the bottom of the rabbit hole, the bottom drops out.

We are in the midst of a new civil war. It’s making mortal enemies of friends, families, neighbors and strangers. We are being inundated with hateful rhetoric at every turn, we are allowing a spate of vulgar hatefulness to become commonplace.

Children & adults are killing themselves & others due to constant bullying. We discriminate on gender, religious grounds, racial & nationality. We fat shame, skinny shame, criticize facial features, we laugh at people with disabilities, or who don’t look and act like everyone else. We make celebrities & political figures our standard for what is beautiful or handsome. No one wants to look like a normal human being anymore. We have fat sucked from areas of our bodies & injected into others. We have gotten to the point where some people are starting to look like aliens not human beings.

Our First Lady has said her focus will be on preventing cyber bullying. How can she in good conscience say that and then allow the sexists remarks and bullying that are coming from her own family? Cyber bullying is happening everywhere and being done by everyone. If she wants to really take a stance and do something for those who are bullied, start at the top. Tell your husband his remarks are out of line, stand up for your own gender. She has a chance to make a difference, but walking a step behind and pandering to any man’s ego is not the way. She has a young son who is growing up believing that bullying is OK. He is being shown that money & prestige excuses bad behavior. I actually feel sorry for him.

Instead of our elected officials helping to stop this madness they are adding fuel to the fire. The official word they are spreading is if you say bad things about the administration, they will retaliate tenfold. How adult of this enlightened body. This game of tit for tat that is being engaged in is not good for the country. It is bringing us down to a level of disgusting behavior that is beneath us. We have become the laughing stock of the whole world. The lies and innuendos that have been fostered before and after our elections by all parties involved, winners & losers has reached the point where our very way of life is in danger of imploding.

Common sense has taken a back step to fanaticism and common decency has taken a back seat to civility. We don’t have to wait for a foreign country to destroy us, we are doing a damn good job of doing it ourselves.

I hate to tell these supposedly enlightened men & women in charge of our country, but the majority of people don’t give a frig what party is in power. What we want and need is for you people to get your act together, start acting like adults, quit this party stance that is getting nothing done. Quit having your secret party meetings where one side only tries deciding what is best for the American people. Appoint committees with equal numbers of men & women from all parties.

Face the facts that some of the people who are heading your current committees are so set in their ways that they will never be open to any opinions but their own. When members have reached the point where they have to be told what to say by aides, or refuse to open their minds to new ideas it is time for them to recuse themselves.

Our current administration is ripe with the good old boys network, that seems to believe women belong in two places, the kitchen & the bedroom and that the little woman should sit back and let the men handle it.

There are people in power that take great pleasure in showing their distain for the opposite sex and think we should just sit back & take it. If we fight back, suddenly they are the injured party and we are wrong. You are trying to set this country back over 50 years and take away equality. It ain’t gonna happen, get use to the fact that we are here & we aren’t going anywhere.

If they won’t try to stop the insanity we have been plunged into and restore common sense to our government and dignity to the office then we are doomed.

Let’s stand together and work to make the government work for us and not themselves. It’s time they remember they went sent to Washington to work for the people, not for their own interests. They have got to answer to us, not lobbyists, not special interest groups, not their parties, but us their constituents. We pay their salaries, we are the ones they need to answer to.

They seem to has forgotten and need to remember the common fact, that a

“Government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the Earth. ”

Defiles us all is absolute truth. I am beside myself, and have been since the election that NObody stopped this. They had a damned good idea who he was and THEY DID NOTHING. I realize the previous administration did not want to be seen as interfering in the electoral process and that might have been appropriate if a normal conservative ran and won, but this bastard is a MONSTER and they let it happen.

Which means I am effectively in a rage with everyone who had a fecking thing to do with his election and that is fecking exhausting.

Thank you, Pat. We are ALL horrified… except for those who proudly sport “Make America Great Again” baseball caps. How ANYONE could support this president, right now, with all he’s done and said, is beyond me.

Pam Koenig

Just when you think you’re at the bottom of the rabbit hole, the bottom drops out.

We are in the midst of a new civil war. It’s making mortal enemies of friends, families, neighbors and strangers. We are being inundated with hateful rhetoric at every turn, we are allowing a spate of vulgar hatefulness to become commonplace.

Children & adults are killing themselves & others due to constant bullying. We discriminate on gender, religious grounds, racial & nationality. We fat shame, skinny shame, criticize facial features, we laugh at people with disabilities, or who don’t look and act like everyone else. We make celebrities & political figures our standard for what is beautiful or handsome. No one wants to look like a normal human being anymore. We have fat sucked from areas of our bodies & injected into others. We have gotten to the point where some people are starting to look like aliens not human beings.

Our First Lady has said her focus will be on preventing cyber bullying. How can she in good conscience say that and then allow the sexists remarks and bullying that are coming from her own family? Cyber bullying is happening everywhere and being done by everyone. If she wants to really take a stance and do something for those who are bullied, start at the top. Tell your husband his remarks are out of line, stand up for your own gender. She has a chance to make a difference, but walking a step behind and pandering to any man’s ego is not the way. She has a young son who is growing up believing that bullying is OK. He is being shown that money & prestige excuses bad behavior. I actually feel sorry for him.

Instead of our elected officials helping to stop this madness they are adding fuel to the fire. The official word they are spreading is if you say bad things about the administration, they will retaliate tenfold. How adult of this enlightened body. This game of tit for tat that is being engaged in is not good for the country. It is bringing us down to a level of disgusting behavior that is beneath us. We have become the laughing stock of the whole world. The lies and innuendos that have been fostered before and after our elections by all parties involved, winners & losers has reached the point where our very way of life is in danger of imploding.

Common sense has taken a back step to fanaticism and common decency has taken a back seat to civility. We don’t have to wait for a foreign country to destroy us, we are doing a damn good job of doing it ourselves.

I hate to tell these supposedly enlightened men & women in charge of our country, but the majority of people don’t give a frig what party is in power. What we want and need is for you people to get your act together, start acting like adults, quit this party stance that is getting nothing done. Quit having your secret party meetings where one side only tries deciding what is best for the American people. Appoint committees with equal numbers of men & women from all parties.

Face the facts that some of the people who are heading your current committees are so set in their ways that they will never be open to any opinions but their own. When members have reached the point where they have to be told what to say by aides, or refuse to open their minds to new ideas it is time for them to recuse themselves.

Our current administration is ripe with the good old boys network, that seems to believe women belong in two places, the kitchen & the bedroom and that the little woman should sit back and let the men handle it.

There are people in power that take great pleasure in showing their distain for the opposite sex and think we should just sit back & take it. If we fight back, suddenly they are the injured party and we are wrong. You are trying to set this country back over 50 years and take away equality. It ain’t gonna happen, get use to the fact that we are here & we aren’t going anywhere.

If they won’t try to stop the insanity we have been plunged into and restore common sense to our government and dignity to the office then we are doomed.

Let’s stand together and work to make the government work for us and not themselves. It’s time they remember they went sent to Washington to work for the people, not for their own interests. They have got to answer to us, not lobbyists, not special interest groups, not their parties, but us their constituents. We pay their salaries, we are the ones they need to answer to.

They seem to has forgotten and need to remember the common fact, that a

“Government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the Earth. ”